The South Rome Redevelopment Corporation will experience significant turnover at the first of the year with four new board members already ratified and two more to be chosen. J.R. Davis, the new executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Rome. is the latest to be approved for a seat on the redevelopment corporation board.

Jimmy Smith, a financial consultant with Wells Fargo Advisors and head of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Rome Board; Bill Kerestes, the marketing manager for the Myrtle Hill Mausoleum; and Joe Montgomery, an advancement official at Darlington School, have previously been approved for seats on the board. Representatives from the Hillsboro community and Etowah Terrace have yet to be chosen.

“We’ve got to do a good job of getting these people on board in a hurry,” said Wright Bagby.

The South Rome Redevelopment Agency, an arm of the city, named Bishop Daniel Foster to replace Tom Whitworth as vice chairman of the agency.

The corporation board also agreed to have attorney Alex Warren draft a by-law amendment creating an executive committee that could take action on specific issues in between regular board meetings in the event quick action was needed.

South Rome Redevelopment Executive Director Melissa Jones told the boards that she would be attending a low-income housing tax credit workshop in Atlanta in January. Jones also said she hopes to meet with additional prospective developers for multi-family housing units that the South Rome organizations hope to move forward with on a number of parcels they own in South Rome.

Jones also reported that she is continuing to work on plans for a community garden and farmers market program for South Rome. A specific site for the community garden has not yet been selected. Jones said she was considering several parcels.